Cptcrnchmobile 2.0 - 2004 Jetta wagon

[Tdijarhead]

If it’s just the large fan the ac will still work, you could just unplug the big fan so it won’t try and run. As long as the small one is working. I wouldn’t run it like that for any length of time.

My big fan is not currently working I need to replace it but up north here I don’t run the ac much and it’s almost at the end of the season for that anyway. I’ll fix it when I have something else to replace in that general area.

 

[sriracha]

Similar to you, I just bought a 2005 Jetta wagon TDI after owning a mk6 Golf TDI. The mk4 isn’t as quick nor does it handle as well as the mk6. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the Malone stage 1.5 tune and suspension upgrades, in comparison to the mk6. Also, did the Malone tune with dynamic ERG improve fuel economy?

 

[Cptcrnch]

Similar to you, I just bought a 2005 Jetta wagon TDI after owning a mk6 Golf TDI. The mk4 isn’t as quick nor does it handle as well as the mk6. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the Malone stage 1.5 tune and suspension upgrades, in comparison to the mk6. Also, did the Malone tune with dynamic ERG improve fuel economy?

The Malone Stage 1.5 is great - however the clutch does slip if I really get on it. Owain told me this before I bought the tune and I knew that it might happen. In daily driving it hasn't been an issue and I haven't been in a situation where it's slipped in several months. As for the dynamic EGR I haven't noticed any increase in fuel mileage but not having so much EGR certainly can't be bad for the car.

In hindsight (being 20/20) I probably would have gone with a different suspension setup. This car wasn't supposed to be my DD for this long. it was supposed to become a rehab project over this summer. But life took an unexpected left turn about this time last year (aka job loss) and my plans for the car we altered greatly. For daily driving I would get something close to the stock setup if you're looking at a suspension refresh. Many here like the Koni setup.

As you said, the Mkiv platform is nothing like the Mkvi (especially going from a Golf to a long roof Jetta) and I really had to change my idea of what the driving experience would be. I can't push the wagon like I could my Golf (which was on stock suspension but UHP A/S tires). Currently I drive 120 miles roundtrip to work on some nice smooth roads so the suspension I selected, though less then ideal is fine for now. If I had rougher roads to drive I would probably be looking to change it already.

 

[sriracha]

The Malone Stage 1.5 is great - however the clutch does slip if I really get on it. Owain told me this before I bought the tune and I knew that it might happen. In daily driving it hasn't been an issue and I haven't been in a situation where it's slipped in several months. As for the dynamic EGR I haven't noticed any increase in fuel mileage but not having so much EGR certainly can't be bad for the car.

In hindsight (being 20/20) I probably would have gone with a different suspension setup. This car wasn't supposed to be my DD for this long.

I want to get the Malone Stage 1.5 tune along with an upgraded clutch. Cascade German sells upgraded DMF OEM clutch kits that they claim will hold 273 ft/lbs of torque at the crank.

I'm also thinking about buying the wagon specific H&R sport springs and a set of Koni Yellow adjustable dampers. I've read and been told that the H&R sport springs are compliant and comfortable along with slightly firmer suspension support. Smooth yet still reducing body roll and dive. The H&R sport springs claim a drop of 1.5"F/1.4"R.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

That's the same LUK 17-050 many vendors (including us) sell. It's a good clutch, but it's not an upgrade over stock. However, with a Malone 1.5 tune it should be OK.

 

[Cptcrnch]

The car has been a highway warrior and running great since I had to replace the rack at the beginning of the summer. I’m averaging right around 1800 miles a month and will roll over 260k here very shortly with it. Running Southern States 50 cetane diesel exclusively all summer (high customer volume with lots of big rig traffic so the fuel is always fresh) and using Diesel Kleen I’ve been averaging in the mid 40s doing almost exclusively highway driving. Once this silver bottle is finished I’ll be switching to the winter white bottle stuff.

Lots of PM work planned in the coming weeks thanks to an extra check in November plus some holiday pay!

Next week the car gets the 260k mile oil change along with fuel and cabin filters plus installing a “new” radiator fan. Then a really good wash and synthetic waxing to help ward off all the salt that will be laid down this winter. I’m chasing what I strongly believe is a leak at the T on the fuel filter. I’m hoping replacing the filter and reseating the T will fix the issue but if it doesn’t a new T will be forthcoming since they’re so cheap

I had the rear brakes done last year and now it’s time for the front pads and rotors to be changed. I’m planning on ID Parts front kit with their ceramic pads. I don’t need anything performance oriented since the car is almost exclusively highway driven and long life is what I’m aiming for.

Then it’s glow plug system maintence. Recently, on the first few cold mornings we’ve had the car has trouble starting and I’ve gotten the code for the glow plugs. I tested them today and they were fine on my multimeter, pulled them for a visual inspection and found they are the old 5v steel plugs. I plan to have Malone update my tune for the 7v plugs, replace all four plugs with new 7v ceramics, and for good measure replace the relay under the windshield cowl since a few times over the summer it had some difficulty starting and it popped a GP DTC.

It’ll be nice spending some quality time on her in the next few weeks doing easy PM work and not just making emergency repairs under the gun.

 

[Cptcrnch]

While rotating the tires today I noticed that even with the parking brake set the right rear wheel would spin while the left was firmly in place. Back in May I replaced the left rear caliper due to it leaking fluid around the e-brake mechanism. Upon further inspection today I noticed the parking brake lever on the right rear caliper is not returning against the stop - in fact it’s almost 2x further forward then the new left rear when the brake lever is pulled . The caliper will engage when the brake pedal is pushed but I don’t know what it’s doing under load. I took it for a drive it’s not dragging as the wheel isn’t getting any hotter than the left hand side (checked the temp with a thermal imaging camera).

I’m beginning to wonder if this is the source of the vibration I started recently getting under braking between 40-55mph. I considered sourcing a used caliper but given the conditions they are subject too I figured it was better to get a new one. Thanks to ID Parts quick shipping I’ll have the new caliper on Monday and put it on Tuesday morning and see what that does for the vibration. Even if that doesn’t solve the vibration at least I’ll be utilizing both rear brakes when using the parking brake.

 

[Cptcrnch]

Swapping the rear caliper seems to have solved my vibration issue it appears the piston became frozen in the fully retraced position and the ebrake mechanism wasn’t doing anything either as it appears to have stripped the splines that the arm attaches to. Im guessing the vibration was from the left side doing all the braking while the right wasn’t doing much of anything. A road tested after the swap and there’s no more vibration and I can adjust the ebrake cable yoke in the cabin to be even on both sides.

 

[3L3M3NT]

I'm sure it feels great having the cash to stay up on the maintenance and all the annoying little things that happen along the way.

I had no idea they were making ceramic tipped glow plugs anymore...I thought they went away from the ceramic tips after they were breaking off in the cylinder and pretty much ruining the head and the cylinder that the tip broke off in.

I never would have thought that a stuck piston in a caliper could cause a vibration, but it would make sense if only one side was doing all of the braking in the back causing an imbalance in the forces working on each wheel/hub.

It's great to see you staying on top of everything, but take some pictures while you're working on things or of the before and after. This is the picture thread after all.

 

[Cptcrnch]

Yesterday was a rather chilly day in the mid 40s and raining. My 70 mile drive to work was uneventful, however upon parking and getting out of the car I could smell the sweet odor of coolant coming from underneath the hood. Popped said hood and saw the coolant ball was empty and coolant all over the top of the transmission right underneath the coolant flange. A quick visual inspection revealed what I found in the picture above. Since the car had the 5spd swap done the distribution pipe that went to the auto trans cooler had been blocked off. The little coolant bypass cap had cracked nearly the whole way around. However it was a slow enough of a leak and the ambient temps were low enough that the car never got above its normal operating temperature.

Ran down to VW today and got a gallon of G12, a generic $2 bypass cap from Advance Auto, and changed it the parking lot with ease. The Stealership wanted $30 for the cap!

 

[benIV]

good set of circumstances there to avoid the disaster. Glad you were able to fix it up with minimal problems!


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[Cptcrnch]

Fixed my speedometer issue yesterday. Speedo would randomly drop out. $30 VSS fixed that issue. New oil filler cap gaskets solved some of the oil leak. Now it’s looking like the EGR system is leaking oil. . Most the oil is leaking around the lower flex pipe where it goes into the EGR cooler. In the spring when it gets warmer I’ll probably remove the system and block it off (I don’t have a garage to work in so the pavement is a wee bit damp and cold). She’s not burning any extra oil. It’s just enough to make the block grimey and leave a small spot on my skid plate.

After doing some more research here on the forum it’s looking like the rear lower control arm bushings are starting to fail and the possibly the rear axle bushings as well. I got a photo of the right rear bushing and it’s looking worn. As both bushings for the front control arm and the rear bushings aren’t expensive I will probably have my guru press out the old ones and press in new OEM ones before the end of the winter.

 

[Tdijarhead]

My daughters bug shortly after she got it, as I was going over it almost every piece of rubber underneath was worn or worse. The rear axle bushings were the only thing that looked as though they were recent.

 

[Cptcrnch]

Holy cow! Thankfully I don’t think mine are quite that bad.

 

[Tdijarhead]

Yeah it was pretty interesting, the front wheels would move about one inch forward or backward every time the car moved.

 

[3L3M3NT]

Can I make a suggestion that it would be worth it to upgrade most of your bushings when you replace them. It'll make world of difference in how your car handles.
Starting with your control arms, upgrade to Audi TT bushings.
https://www.cascadegerman.com/product/8n0407181b-set/
Or if your control arms are in pretty rough shape you can buy new ones with the TT bushings already installed.
https://www.cascadegerman.com/product/1j0407151b-set/

If your control arms are going to be out of the car, then you should check and see how your strut mount bushings are doing. If they're shot you can upgrade to the high density Cupra R strut mounts, which should last a lot longer.
https://www.cascadegerman.com/product/1ml412331-set/

Then for your rear axle beam bushings you can upgrade to the Cupra R bushings.
https://www.cascadegerman.com/product/6ll501541-set/

Cascade German also sells two different suspension rebuild kits if you wanted to go that route, but it doesn't look like either have rear axle beam bushings for what it's worth.
Deluxe kit
https://www.cascadegerman.com/product/mk4suspension-dlx/
Uber kit
https://www.cascadegerman.com/product/mk4suspension-ubr/

If your control arm bushings are shot, then there's a good chance your subframe bushings need to be replaced as well. I would suggest these solid subframe bushings from Tyrolsport if you wanna stiffen up your car and never have to worry about replacing them again.
http://www.tyrolsport.com/suspension/chassis/tyrolsport-vw-mk4-solid-subframe-bushings/
Or I just found that Cascade German sells a set made by 034 Motorsports.
https://www.cascadegerman.com/product/subframe-bushing-mk4-aluminum/

If you do replace the subframe bushings, you could also replace the steering rack bracket with a solid steering rack bracket to tighten up the steering even more.
http://www.tyrolsport.com/suspension/chassis/tyrolsport-solid-steering-rack-bracket-for-mk4-vw/mk1-audi-tt/

One thing that people tend to forget that have bushings is their brakes, so now would be a good time to go with a brake stiffening kit.
http://www.tyrolsport.com/braking/tyrolsport-brake-caliper-stiffening-kit-for-vw/audi/

And no I'm not affiliated or sponsored by either Cascade German or Tyrolsport. I've just had a good experience with both of them and they offer great products.

 

[Cptcrnch]

Thanks for the great recommendations. The strut mount bushing, steering rack bracket, and sway bar bushings were replaced with the last year along with ball joints and tie rods as well. When the steering rack was replaced the subframe bushings were checked and found to still be in great shape.

My car is highway commute warrior to and from work twice a week 100 miles round trip. Would the TT and Cupra R bushings really make that big of difference or in my application (straight line smooth highway cruising) or would I not really notice the benefit.

 

[3L3M3NT]

IMO if you're going to be replacing a factory part that has failed and it's not that much more to upgrade to a better part or component, then by all means go for it and upgrade the part.

I still think you'll notice a different by going with the TT bushings in the control arms and the Cupra R beam bushings. I'm sure you still have to change lanes, take on and off ramps, and in an emergency I'm sure you'd rather have your car respond sooner than later

Plus, usually the upgraded stuff lasts longer than the factory parts do, so it really saves you money in the long run or at least that's how I justified upgrading to a VNT-17/22 ten years ago when my stock turbo quit working